The Suzuki Hayabusa (or GSX1300R) is a sport bike motorcycle made by Suzuki since 1999. It immediately won acclaim as the world’s fastest production motorcycle, with a top speed of 188 to 194 miles per hour (303 to 312 km/h).

Hayabusa (隼?) is Japanese for “peregrine falcon”, a bird that often serves as a metaphor for speed due to its vertical hunting dive, or stoop, speed of 180 to 202 miles per hour (290 to 325 km/h), the fastest of any bird. In particular, the choice of name was made because the peregrine falcon preys on blackbirds, which reflected the intent of the original Hayabusa to unseat the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird as the world’s fastest production motorcycle. Eventually, the Hayabusa managed to surpass the Super Blackbird by at least a full 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).

In 2000, fears of a European regulatory backlash or import ban led to an informal agreement between the Japanese and European manufacturers to govern the top speed of their motorcycles at an arbitrary limit.

The media-reported value for the speed agreement in miles per hour was consistently 186 mph, while in kilometers per hour it varied from 299 to 303 km/h, which is typical given unit conversion rounding errors. This figure may also be affected by a number of external factors, as can the power and torque values.

The conditions under which this limitation was adopted led to the 1999–2000 Hayabusa’s title remaining, at least technically, unassailable, since no subsequent model could go faster without being tampered with. Thus, after the much anticipated Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R of 2000 fell 4 mph (6 km/h) short of claiming the title, the Hayabusa secured its place as the fastest standard production bike of the 20th century. This gives the unrestricted 1999–2000 models even more cachet with collectors.

Besides its speed, the Hayabusa has been lauded by many reviewers for its all-around performance, in that it does not drastically compromise other qualities like handling, comfort, reliability, noise, fuel economy or price in pursuit of a single function. Jay Koblenz of Motorcycle Consumer News commented, “If you think the ability of a motorcycle to approach 190 mph or reach the quarter-mile in under 10 seconds is at best frivolous and at worst offensive, this still remains a motorcycle worthy of just consideration. The Hayabusa is Speed in all its glory. But Speed is not all the Hayabusa is.”

It’s been a long time since a concept car has really sparked the imagination of tech geeks and car enthusiasts alike. When Toyota unveiled their latest concept car, the Fun-Vii, at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show this week, everyone from Automobile Magazine to Mashable jumped in to discuss its proposed paradigm-shifting features.

It’s clear what the “Fun” part of the name means just by watching the second video below. The “Vii” stands for Vehicle, Interactive, Internet. Inside and out, most aspects of the car can interact with the internet and be controlled by a smartphone. Most surfaces on and within the vehicle are giant touchscreens that can be adjusted to the whims of the driver, including color changes, graphics, and interactive surfaces.

Did we mention that the car will be able to drive itself? Through wireless connections that interact with other vehicles as well as the infrastructure of its surroundings, the vehicle can go “hands free” from point to point (in theory, at least). While in “Auto Drive” mode, the augmented reality interface includes a virtual concierge. Note in the second video how the helpful female concierge is “upgraded” to a less-clothed variation (stay classy, Toyota!).

At 13-feet long, the small 3-seater won’t be a family-hauler.

Toyota has no plans to produce the vehicle anytime soon, but the concepts and technology that it represents will likely find its way into production vehicles in the coming years.

Here are two videos, first of the unveiling of the vehicle than the promotional visualization of what the vehicle would represent in a Utopian society. More images of the vehicle are below the videos.

The Nissan S30 (sold in Japan as the Nissan Fairlady Z and in other markets as the Datsun 240Z, then later as the 260Z and 280Z) was the first generation of Z GT two-seat coupe, and later (beginning in the 1974 model year) also 2+2 hatchbacks produced by Nissan Motors, Ltd. of Japan from 1970 to 1978. It was designed by a team led by Mr. Yoshihiko Matsuo, the head of Nissan’s Sports Car Styling Studio. HLS30 was the designation of the left-hand meow model and HS30 for the right-hand drive model.